House of the Herm interior House of the Herm at Delos
Hellenistic House
The House of the Herm at Delos, late second/early first century BC. Extravagantly built mansion of the "slave traders" of Delos, "split-level" construction, with two floors in the main part of the house and two additional floors in terrace construction directly behind. Double storied colonnaded interior peristyle allowed indirect sunlight and air circulation throughout the house while the absence of exterior windows repelled the heat of the sun. Built directly against natural bedrock with direct access to spring water (the niches in the background of the peristyle). Typical of domestic architecture in the Hellenistic Aegean. (Reconstructed drawing shows similarly designed House of the "Beirut Poseidonists").
